In a late-night vote, the Virginia Beach School Board narrowly approved a resolution that opposes discrimination and harassment of LGBTQ+ youth and adults in the school division, WVEC reported. The vote came after board members spent hours listening to about 100 people speak on the resolution. This discussion also comes amid proposed model policies under Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin's administration, such as parental approval for changes to students' names or pronouns and a requirement that students use bathrooms that align with their biological sex.
Six Florida students, their parents and two authors sued a central Florida school district for banning some students' access to And Tango Makes Three—a children's book about two male penguins who raise a baby penguin together, NBC News noted. Last year, the school board in Lake County banned students who are in kindergarten through third grade from accessing the 2005 book that is based on a true story. The district said at the time that its decision was based on Florida's Parental Rights in Education law (also called the "Don't Say Gay" law); this new lawsuit says that the law is "vague and overbroad" and that the district violated the First Amendment.
In Washington, Kennedy Catholic High School's prom night at the Columbia Club turned into a groundbreaking moment for Marilyn and Payton—who became the first pair of prom queens, according to KING5."With all the stuff of the teachers being fired … there was a lot of uncertainty, I think," Marilyn said of a February 2020 controversy involving their school. Two teachers let the community know they were essentially fired because of being members of the LGBTQ+ community.
And in Massachusetts, Fontbonne Academy—which, a decade ago, rescinded the contract of a gay employee because of his marital status—recently featured a married lesbian alumna, Andi Lyons, as its commencement speaker this year, according to a New Ways Ministry item that cited The Patriot Ledger. Lyons was chosen by her peers in the Class of 1973, following a Fontbonne tradition that the 50th reunion class chooses the speaker for the latest graduates.
Mental Floss published an article entitled "10 Fascinating Facts About Larry Kramer." Among other things, the article says that the late activist had a mental-health crisis in college (at Yale University) that shaped his future; that he was nominated for an Oscar (for his adaptation of D.H. Lawrence's novel Women in Love); that his 1985 drama The Normal Heart changed the national debate around AIDS; and that Kramer eventually married his crush from his controversial novel Faggots. The article is at https://www.mentalfloss.com/posts/larry-kramer-activist-facts.
Transgender Army veteran Jodi Jeloudov expressed outrage after she was asked to leave the women's restroom while on federal property at a Department of Veterans Affairs medical center in West Palm Beach, Florida, The Advocate reported. "There was a woman in there that pushed me and said, 'You don't belong here,'" Jeloudov told The Advocate. "I have long hair; I have on a female dress; I have high-cut boots; and I have on some makeup." The person insisted that she leave the bathroom, adding that two staff members blocked her from going back in; at this point, Jeloudov said, a supervisor had been called, and a portion of that interaction was captured on video. VA Press Secretary Terrence Hayes sent a statement saying, "This is unacceptable, and we are immediately reaching out to this veteran to apologize. We have also launched an investigation to ensure that this does not happen again."
The fate of the Steamworks Baths chain is uncertain as two companies with ownership stakes engage in a court battle that includes allegations of impersonation, attempted poisoning and requested drug delivery, per The Bay Area Reporter. The suit, Steamworks Management LLC v. Great Works Inc., will have a case-management conference on Aug. 23 after being postponed from late April. The Steamworks chain consists of five gay bathhouses with locations in Berkeley, California; Chicago; Seattle; Toronto; and Vancouver. It was founded by the late Rick Stokes—the other gay man who ran for the seat that the late Harvey Milk won on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 1977—in Berkeley in 1976.
U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle struck down Florida's ban on Medicaid coverage for gender-affirming care, The Advocate reported. "The elephant in the room should be noted at the outset," Hinkle wrote. "Gender identity is real. The record makes this clear." He found that the ban violated federal law governing Medicaid, the Affordable Care Act's ban on sex discrimination, and the equal protection guarantee of the U.S. Constitution.
All eight LGBTQ+ Victory Fund candidates for the Virginia state legislature won their primary elections ahead of the Nov. 7 general election, per a press release. They include Danica Roem, who would be the first out trans state senator ever elected in the South; and Josh Cole and Rozia Henson, who would be the first out LGBTQ+ Black men ever elected to the Virginia legislature. There are currently four out LGBTQ+ members of the state House and one out LGBTQ+ member of the state Senate, according to LGBTQ+ Victory Institute.
Elon Musk said the words "cisgender" and "cis" are considered "slurs" under Twitter's content policy—the latest policy change implemented by the billionaire who has previously made controversial remarks on gender identity, according to Forbes. In April, Twitter altered the slurs section of its hateful content policy page to remove a line that prohibited "targeted misgendering or deadnaming of transgender individuals." Earlier this month, Musk (who is estranged from his own trans child) tweeted a pledge that he will be "actively lobbying to criminalize" healthcare interventions for transgender youth.
The New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that a Christian-owned wellness center is exempt from the federal law banning employers from discriminating on the bases of sexual orientation and gender identity, Reuters reported. The court said that Braidwood Management—which runs an alternative health center in Texas—cannot be sued by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) over its policy that employees who engage in LGBTQ+-related conduct will be fired. However, the court reversed a lower-court ruling that Braidwood could bring the case as a class action on behalf of other religious businesses.
A Grand Rapids, Michigan TV station is facing public and employee criticism for telling reporters to cover fewer LGBTQ+ events during Pride Month because, it said, the coverage has been upsetting conservative viewers, per The Detroit Free Press. Employees said a WOOD-TV (Channel 8) memo, which the Free Press obtained, asked staff to "do some work to discern the newsworthy-ness" of Pride events. A couple days later, Gary Weitman—the executive vice president of Texas' Nexstar Media Group, which owns WOOD-TV—apologized "for offending members of the LGBTQ community and WOOD-TV's viewers," and pledged to "take appropriate action as necessary to address this situation."
The U.S. District Court for the District of Utah granted a preliminary injunction allowing Southern Utah Drag Stars to host their family-friendly drag performance event, KUTV reported. The court's ruling, released June 16, came after the city of St. George initially denied the group a special event permit for their show, originally scheduled for April 28. The court's decision recognizes drag as a form of expression protected by the First Amendment.
Professional sports teams and leagues across the United States and Canada are celebrating Pride Month this June—and six sports leagues and 89 teams changed their logos to the Pride rainbow, according to Outsports. The leagues are the CFL (Canadian football League), MLB, MLS, NWSL, PHF (Premier Hockey Federation) and the WNBA. However, only 10% of the NBA teams—Cleveland, Philadelphia and Utah—did so. The Chicago teams that have done so include the Fire FC, the Red Stars and the Sky.
Several thousand people—primarily from Catholic religious groups and joined by some other anti-LGBTQ+ groups—were outside Dodger Stadium to protest the Los Angeles Dodgers' decision to re-include the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence as honorees for the team's June 16 Pride Night celebration, The Los Angeles Blade reported. However, fans in attendance enjoyed the game and celebration of the LGBTQ+ community, KABC noted. Fans were still able to make their way into the stadium and the Sisters were given their Community Hero award from the Dodgers in a small ceremony before the game.
Trans-rights activist Rose Montoya apologized for appearing topless on the South Lawn of the White House during an official Pride Month event, The Washington Blade noted. In part, she said, "I especially want to apologize to my Black trans brothers and siblings, especially women who are Black, because I understand that you all are constantly, at a disproportionate level, impacted by the actions of others and especially by anti-trans violence." The White House banned Montoya from the building after the stunt, saying it wasn't appropriate.
Republican Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin hosted a Pride Month reception at the Executive Mansion—and Equality Virginia accused him of hypocrisy, according to The Washington Blade. Youngkin hosted members of the Virginia LGBTQ+ Advisory Board and Log Cabin Republicans; he hosted a similar reception last year in the Capitol Rotunda.
Montana resident John Russell Howald was sentenced to 18 years in prison for shooting into a residence with the intent of ridding a town of LGBTQ+ residents, per Instinct Magazine. According to the Department of Justice, Howald fired at least one shot into the unidentified person's house on March 22, 2020, and then yelled that he wanted to "get rid of the lesbians [and] gays." A federal jury in the U.S. District Court in Helena on Feb. 17 found Howald guilty of hate and firearms crimes.
Former Grindr Chief Privacy Officer Ron De Jesus has accused the company of callously ignoring the app's storage and sharing of user data, including intimate photos and HIV status, according to Business Insider. De Jesus alleges that the company fired him in January after he raised concerns about the company prioritizing "profit over privacy," according to court documents. In 2021, Norway fined Grindr $7 million for illegally sharing user data, which De Jesus referenced in his lawsuit.
On June 20, 501(c)(3) non-profit Queer Capita hosted its second annual Pride celebration, "Queer & Now," on the rooftop of Bushwick's Elsewhere venue in NYC, per a press release. Sponsored in partnership with Amazon Music, Glossier, Aperol and Virgin Music Group, "Queer & Now" brought together Queer Capita's 400+ members (who represent more than 200 music companies) and their allies for a special all-queer performance lineup including Dorian Electra, Madison Rose, The Dragon Sisters and Rodney Chrome alongside local figures DJ Dee Diggs and Queen Essa Noche, who also hosted the event. The event also raised awareness for Queer Capita partner Drag Out The Vote—a nonpartisan, 501(c)(3) non-profit working with drag performers like Brita Filter, Marti Gould Cummings and Cynthia Lee Fontaine to promote participation in democracy.
There are many bars that cater to gay men in Los Angeles (including West Hollywood)—and now there are two lesbian venues as well, as of this year: The Ruby Fruit and Honey's, according to The Hollywood Reporter. There had been a dearth of nightlife havens for lesbians in L.A. ever since The Palms closed in WeHo in 2013 and The Oxwood Inn shut down in the San Fernando Valley in 2017. The Ruby Fruit is a Silver Lake spot described as a "neighborhood wine bar for the sapphically inclined" and whose name is an homage to Rita Mae Brown's landmark lesbian novel The Rubyfruit Jungle.
And speaking of West Hollywood, a public photo art display celebrating drag queens and LA Pride history was vandalized, per The Advocate. The life-size portraits come from an essay on the second West Hollywood Halloween Carnaval in the late 1980s, and have been on display along the Sunset Strip section of Sunset Boulevard since May 1—but more than a dozen of them have been burned, tagged with graffiti or slashed.
GOP lawmakers believed it was a "woke liberal" political agenda for the Alabama Department of Archives and History to host an event that educated others about history, per the Alabama Political Reporter. During the event, Invisible Histories Project co-founder Dr. Maigen Sullivan held a lecture about LGBTQ+ history in Alabama. Sullivan said the event was funded by a grant from the Alabama Humanities Alliance, not taxpayer money, which was something Republican Alabama House Majority Leader Scott Stadthagen alleged.
In Indiana, thousands of people attended the recent Indy Pride Parade after a difficult year for the state's LGBTQ+ residents, WFYI reported. Grand marshals for the event included families of transgender youth and individuals who advocated for their rights at the Statehouse this year. Legislation this year targeted LGBTQ youth, and included a "Don't Say Gay" bill, denial of gender-affirming care for trans youth and the censure of books in schools.
Also, thousands went to Grand Haven, Michigan's inaugural Pride festival on June 10 at Waterfront Stadium, despite some people hesitating to attend an LGBTQ+ event in the small city in a traditionally conservative part of the state, the AP reported. Organizers had hoped the all-ages festival would attract at least 500 attendees to the city of 11,000 people; however, the drag show, dance party and vendor-filled streets drew many more. This year, Ottawa County's board of commissioners has made several controversial decisions, including not sending funds to support the county's largest Pride festival, in Holland, even though it had sponsored the event for two years.
In Georgia, a billboard sparked controversy by stating, "Proud to be delivered"—with a Pride flag in the background, WSB reported. "I was just completely taken aback by it, especially given the fact that the words 'proud to be delivered' was blazed across the LGBT Pride flag. To me, that was a bait-and-switch," said Darian Aaron, who works with GLAAD. Worship with Wonders purchased the billboards (as there are seven of them throughout Atlanta).
Former CNN journalist Don Lemon hosted the 7th annual Native Son Awards at the IAC building in New York and told the crowd, "I may not be on CNN, but I'm still a journalist," Page Six noted. He then spoke to the audience of Black gay and queer men about anti-LGBTQ+ legislative measures, and criticized corporations that "lacked the courage to stand up against extremist demands to discriminate against us" that are "removing Pride gear and decorations from their stores."
Republican Miami Mayor Francis Suarez officially launched his 2024 presidential campaign—and was immediately considered a long shot, per CNN. During a speech at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, Suarez tried to offer an alternative to former President Donald Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis—without mentioning either of his fellow Floridians by name—urging Republicans to unify and reach out to Americans with Reagan's "big tent" political philosophy. Suarez has expressed support for DeSantis' so-called "Don't Say Gay" law, but has not specified if he supports the expansion of that policy to all grades, according to USA Today.
Also, progressive activist Cornel West announced he is seeking the Green Party nomination for president in 2024 after declaring his candidacy for the People's Party nomination, The Hill reported. West faces long odds with his third-party run, but polls showing that many do not want President Biden or former President Trump to be their party's nominees could lead to greater support for an alternate candidate. Recently, West criticized Democratic candidate Robert Kennedy Jr. for the latter's stance on Israel and Palestine and said, "He needs to really get off the crack pipe," according to Newsweek.
McDonald's mascot Grimace has turned into an online sensation and possible LGBTQ+ icon after being brought back for an eye-catching ad campaign, according to The New York Post. Social media users have speculated whether the celebration for Grimace (that started June 12) has anything to do with June also being Pride Month. "grimace goes to pride," one user posted with a photo of the character (which debuted in 1971) decked out in rainbow colors.
West Virginia University men's basketball coach Bob Huggins (who recently agreed to a million-dollar salary reduction, a three-game suspension and sensitivity training after using an anti-gay slur in an interview on the radio program The Bill Cunningham Show) has resigned following a DUI-related arrest in Pittsburgh, MetroNews reported. A statement read, in part, "My recent actions do not represent the values of the University or the leadership expected in this role. While I have always tried to represent our University with honor, I have let all of you—and myself—down. I am solely responsible for my conduct and sincerely apologize to the University community—particularly to the student-athletes, coaches and staff in our program." Huggins blew a .210 on a breathalyzer after being taken into custody—almost three times the legal limit of Pennsylvania's .08 blood-alcohol content level.
